Global drum patterns.

1. 1950s

   1. 1950
      

      Latin

      Mambo No. 5

      Pérez Prado

      Big-band mambo: punchy brass stabs over Cuban percussion; recorded in 1949 and released the next year

2. 1960s

   1. 1962
      

      Latin

      Oye Como Va

      Tito Puente

      Cha-cha-chá driven by Puente's timbales and a looping piano montuno; the original that Santana later rocked up
   2. 1965
      

      Reggae

      Guns of Navarone

      The Skatalites

      Skatalites ska with Lloyd Knibb on drums: the fast shuffle and off-beat accents that every later Jamaican groove slowed down
   3. 1967
      

      Reggae

      Rock Steady

      Alton Ellis

      The song that named rocksteady: ska cut to a slower, heavier pulse that gives the bass and the off-beat room to breathe

3. 1970s

   1. 1973
      

      Reggae

      Stir It Up

      Bob Marley & The Wailers

      Catch a Fire re-recording; Carlton Barrett's laid-back one-drop feel took the Wailers' groove to an international audience
   2. 1974
      

      Latin

      Quimbara

      Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco

      Salsa standard from Celia & Johnny (National Recording Registry); clave-driven congas and timbales behind Celia
   3. 1976
      

      Reggae

      King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown

      Augustus Pablo & King Tubby

      Dub touchstone: King Tubby strips Carlton Barrett's drums and the bass to the bone, using echo and drop-outs as rhythm
   4. 1976
      

      Afrobeats

      Zombie

      Fela Kuti & Africa 70

      Tony Allen's Afrobeat drumming: interlocking hi-hat, kick and snare driving a long, militant groove

4. 1980s

   1. 1981
      

      Reggae

      Sponji Reggae

      Black Uhuru

      Sly & Robbie's Taxi sound: Sly Dunbar's crisp, militant rockers drumming pushed roots toward the tighter 80s style
   2. 1982
      

      Dancehall

      Bam Bam

      Sister Nancy

      Voiced on Ansell Collins' Stalag 17 riddim; one of the most sampled Jamaican records and a riddim-culture cornerstone
   3. 1985
      

      Dancehall

      Under Mi Sleng Teng

      Wayne Smith

      Built from a Casio MT-40 preset with King Jammy; one of the first all-digital riddims, it moved dancehall to programmed drums

5. 1990s

   1. 1990
      

      Dancehall

      Dem Bow

      Shabba Ranks

      Bobby Digital production on Steely & Clevie's Poco Man Jam riddim; the boom-ch-boom-chick loop that named dembow
   2. 1991
      

      Reggaeton

      Te Ves Buena

      El General

      Panamanian reggae en español: Spanish deejaying over dancehall riddims, the bridge that carried the beat to Puerto Rico
   3. 1992
      

      Dancehall

      Murder She Wrote

      Chaka Demus & Pliers

      Sly Dunbar on drums for a re-cut of the Bam Bam rhythm; Sly & Robbie's digitized dancehall, re-used for decades
   4. 1992
      

      Latin

      Como la Flor

      Selena y Los Dinos

      Tejano cumbia standard: the loping cumbia pulse carried into US Latin pop

6. 2000s

   1. 2002
      

      Dancehall

      No Letting Go

      Wayne Wonder

      Biggest vocal hit on Lenky Marsden's Diwali riddim, whose handclap-led pattern crossed into US and UK pop
   2. 2002
      

      Latin

      Obsesión

      Aventura

      Modern bachata with R&B polish; seven weeks at No. 1 in France and the record that took bachata international
   3. 2004
      

      Reggaeton

      Gasolina

      Daddy Yankee

      Luny Tunes-assisted Barrio Fino single; first reggaeton song in the US Hot 100 Top 40, taking the dembow loop global

7. 2010s

   1. 2011
      

      Afrobeats

      Oliver Twist

      D'banj

      First Nigerian song to debut on the UK Singles Chart (No. 9); bouncy programmed afropop drums go global
   2. 2013
      

      Reggaeton

      6 AM

      J Balvin feat. Farruko

      Medellín breakthrough: a smoother, mid-tempo romantic dembow that set up Colombia's 2010s reggaeton wave
   3. 2014
      

      Afrobeats

      Ojuelegba

      Wizkid

      Legendury Beatz production; its Drake and Skepta remix carried the swung afrobeats groove into UK and US rap

8. 2020s

   1. 2020
      

      Reggaeton

      Dákiti

      Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez

      Tainy and Mora's slow-burning, futuristic reggaeton: thumping kicks under wavy synths, a template for the 2020s
   2. 2020
      

      Afrobeats

      Sponono

      Kabza De Small

      Amapiano log-drum bass and shuffling percussion with Wizkid and Burna Boy guesting; South Africa meets Nigeria
   3. 2023
      

      Afrobeats

      Water

      Tyla

      Amapiano-pop crossover that won the first Grammy for Best African Music Performance; the log-drum groove goes global

Press play to loop each record's busiest two bars. Patterns are machine-detected from the recordings, not verified transcriptions.